China will shortly block access to over one hundred international cryptocurrency exchanges and other platforms as the government’s crackdown escalates, local news media report August 23. According to the South China Morning Post quoting Chinese language resource Shanghai Securities News, lawmakers will shut down availability of 124 “websites operated by offshore cryptocurrency exchanges that provide trading services to citizens on the mainland.”

The move comes the same week as Beijing forbade venues including hotels, shopping malls, and offices from promoting or hosting events supporting cryptocurrency. A separate ban governing eight crypto media outlets has also come into effect, Bitcoinist reported.

According to Shanghai Securities News, central authorities “will also continue to monitor and shut down domestic websites related to cryptocurrency trades and initial coin offerings (ICOs), and ban payment services from accepting cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin.”

The paper referenced “people close to the Leading Group of Internet Financial Risks Remediation,” a working group in existence since 2016 under the auspices of China’s central bank.